chuck kottke

Hallelujah, Hallelujah... Walk on , walk on.

Today's Topic: Solar Cell Manufacturing. Here's a good place to look@:Solar Cell Manufacturing Plants The future is sparking in the sun!!:sunny:

Will you be wearing a burkha when you go to visit?:laugh3: & JcPenny's is so yesterday. Oh, but wait!:stunned: I've got it!! What you'll need to do is to carefully remove certain pages where he might look, and tape in some images of scantily clad of women ( in the hosery section works best).:P Also, in the computer gaming section.. Wii cannot overcome lustful images of the human form!:laugh3:

Will we entertain ourselves into oblivion??:laugh3: Oh well, what a way to go!

I see books - you must be well read??:inquisitive::) (and don't forget the magazine section in the book store. Save your cousin from a life of salad greens and dark wool robes!):laugh3:

:laugh3::laugh3::laugh3: OK, what then? The land of dust and dirt?? I've never been there, but I have some fairly odd cousins who live there..;) I just have this image of Bugs Bunny, stating something about making a left turn at Albuquerque...:P

:laugh3: Only if you want me click on a thread!:P:wink3: What's this? You're moving to Albuquerque ?? The Land of Enchantment?:cool:

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That's right - the "secret" mission!!:laugh3: ( may the blessing of the green comet be on your side..)

:laugh3: :hug:^^ to Isabella & Carla.:) Carla, since this is your thread, you had better not tug too much on it, or you won't be wearing a stitch of clothing!:P (I just had to say that :P)..

Well done, well done!;) Are you trying to land a job as a suspect artist?:P

Hello Carla of fame and fortune!:cool: Glad you got your very own thread to make whole cloth in!;)

Links to NIN fan club, YouTube, etc.. the unofficial NINE INCH NAILS homepage http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dl0s5UOVsMDg&ei=INacSb-_LaCYNZzE1IoF&sa=X&oi=video_result&resnum=5&ct=thumbnail&usg=AFQjCNE752FJyPEKVfeshXGEdDcWO-SjYA

:rolleyes::confused: What is it? I was thinking... now what was I thinking! Oh yes, "nine inch nails do kinda make that toing, toing, toing sound when they're hammered in slowly!":laugh3:

Welcome Danish American! Are you a member of the Commonwealth? Anyhow, glad you could join!!:)

I'm just going to have a stream of thought here:P: Basically, batteries can pack a lot of power, so-to-speak, but when they run dry, they either must be swapped or recharged. Swapping is bulky (though one could envision a "battery tray" that sits beneath the vehicle, and gets' lowered and swapped quickly at a filling station.) I think the electrics will need something like that; although maybe customers can wait the 10 minutes to an hour for a fast recharge? Sounds a bit troublesome, but perhaps this will be acceptable?? Fluid fuels have the advantages in that (1) they are incredibly energy dense, (2) they are easily stored and dispensed, and (3) they use oxygen from the air for half the reaction energy. Since they have such nice dispensing and storage properties, and are so energy rich, they are hard to compete with. 2 minutes at the filling station, and you're set to go for 100's of miles down the road. Here's where the challenge is: can we make them in an earth-friendly manner? can they be made in sufficient quantities? can they be made and handled safely? My biggest green contention is the same as Fuller's - do more with less, so everyone can enjoy more. There's so much to be saved in efficiency measures that it's next to obscene! If even Diesel engines are around 30% efficient, and Carnot's efficiency predicts 87% maximum (without blowing up the engine), we should be able to double the engine's efficiency. Then, looking at where the power's headed, it's equally ridiculous in inefficiency. Idling takes up 17% of the energy the engine makes?? Why idle! So, it's clear as day we need true hybrids. A smaller engine, that only runs when needed, and functions as a generator set for the electric automobile. That way, long trips aren't an issue. A doubling of engine efficiency, and a doubling of all non-engine efficiencies, should be possible; with 1/4 of the current fuel usage, then switching to electric battery-motor drive systems for the bulk of trips, and supplying the electric with solar canopy roofs over parking lots, etc., we should be able to decrease fuel demand to 1/16th of the original needs or less, and as time goes by, that figure could be further reduced to 1/32nd. With a demand for fluid fuels for automotive use down to 1/32nd of the current demand, then the use of bio-fuels made through efficient means makes sense. And the good news is it will save us all the unneeded expenses of buying barrels of fuel, and help out the environment at the same time. Plus, the vehicles will be less hot in the summer, will cool down more efficiently, and save oodles of money to operate, all while helping out the environment.:)

Welcome aboard the board! There's an Orchestra in Las Vegas??:stunned: Welcome to a fellow classical music aficionado :flutterby:

Stalking tasks?:rolleyes: Listening to 'My Sweet Lord' by George Harrison...:)

Hello Jean!! Welcome to the Coldplaying board, the one with all the lookies and loonies!:laugh3: Enjoy, and good luck with the sign!!;)

Welcome!!!:)

Welcome to the board, Slmoka! :sunny::sunny::sunny:

Silicon - Abundant, clean, natural, beautiful. :daisy:

Well, at least 60 miles per gallon gas, 90 miles per gallon Diesel, Katie! It's the redesigns they don't want to do - they stick with standard blocks, and only tweak around the edges.. basically, they're dragging their feet. We'll need to see 80-120 MPG to gradually slow the man-made portion of climate change significantly, and the acidification of the oceans, etc. I wonder sometimes if we'll get there.:\ 320 Horses is basically a joke of sorts. 320 isn't what's important -what is is acceleration and response. But the old ways die hard! What's needed isn't horsepower, but instantaneous high torque, and the electric motors can deliver that. It's like the steam engine days transitioning to Diesel-electrics - the steamers looked and sounded powerful, but we in fact not as powerful, and were very wasteful of fuel. Well, a smaller engine can produce a great deal of horsepower if it runs faster, , has forced air injection, or has a higher compression ratio. But if it's pushed too hard, it might blow up!:laugh3: Probably the motorcycle engine spins real fast I'm guessing. But if you want to get up to speed fast, the same can be accomplished with capacitors, batteries, motors, and some recharging.. Horsepower isn't really the answer (unless you need an engine for a bulldozer.) - the biggest factors for acceleration are instantaneous power and mass; the big bulky engine which can produce 320 horses spends the rest of the ride mostly as automotive dead weight.. Aptera's showroom look:APTERA_2009_2E_BROCHURE.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Congratulations Carla - you get a flower for your 5,000th post, and a free beer (if you care to get it!):laugh3: :daisy:

Here's a nice summary of the matter of vehicle energy consumption:Energy Losses in a Vehicle Engine Related: 79.6% Engine Losses - 62.4% Idling - 17.2% Vehicle Related: 20.4% Accessories - 2.2% Driveline - 5.6% Aerodynamics - 2.6% Rolling - 4.2% Braking - 5.8% But this is an average, and the truth is much more nuanced. Gasoline engines peak around 25-30% efficiency; Diesels peak around 30-40% efficiency. Diesels are better because of their higher compression ratios. Idling is a problem with in-town driving, so varies depending on where you live. True hybrid designs use the engine as a generator set mainly, so idling losses disappear with true hybrids. **Note: Battery electrics save because of their basic efficiency, but one has to consider the power to produce the electricity at its source. A good path to take, if the electric is from solar, wind, or geothermal. Accessories use more that I thought! Air conditioning is probably the elephant in the room, so here we can improve by better vehicle insulation, brighter, more reflective paint finishes, self-tinting or variable reflective coatings in auto windows, etc. Driveline is a matter of engineering changes. Continuous variable transmissions help, as well as constant torque motors. Aerodynamics is more significant than in this estimate I believe, and is highly dependent on where you live. Long highway commutes double or triple this factor, but city driving halves it. It is the one variable over which we have the most to gain through changes. Rolling friction is where the rubber meets the road. Small changes as possible with tire design, but much larger changes are possible with lighter vehicles, as a lot of the heat of tires is generated by the constant flexing of the rubber. Look for more improvement than what the article states. Braking Also dependent on where you live. Very significant in city and suburbs, not so significant in rural and highway driving. Regenerative braking can significantly reduce losses here, and given the energy poured into just heating bake pads, this is well worth the engineering effort. On the Production end, engines can benefit from the following improvements: 1. Use the highest compression ratio possible at current engineering levels. Higher compression brings the engine closer to ideal engine efficiency (Carnot's ideal gas law engine). Hence Diesels are 10% better than gasoline engines. 2. Allow for engine designs which take full advantage of the hot gas expansion. There's no reason for exhaust valves to get so hot, or manifolds - this happens because the hot gasses are ported before they can put full effort into moving the piston. So either more piston travel is needed, or exhaust turbines installed. 3. Use heat-reflective liners in cylinders, to prevent heat losses on the "hot" side of the engine. 4. Lower component friction whenever possible. 5. Employ full hybrid design so idling becomes unnecessary. On the Consumption End, things stack up as follow Accessories - 11% Driveline - 27% Aerodynamics - 13% Rolling Friction - 21% Braking - 28% Here, the answers show where insulation and heat-reflective interiors help, as well as coatings in windows to variably reflect light will save quite a lot in vehicle cooling loads. Better drivelines are essential, aerodynamics is the easiest to gain savings in, and rolling friction means a need for vehicle weight loss. Braking is significant, and regenerative brakes make oddles of sense. Of course, this is for California drivers, so elsewhere, if you drive sensibly, you'll only loose a 5th of the energy to braking. ;-)